Buying a Flat Panel Display (LCD/Plasma/LED etc)

[zenx]

Originally Posted by jassi

they do pay a lot in US for experts to come from stores and tune your lcd based on the sources you have - oh yeah its big business there!! But the first thing they start with is disable all stupid display related features, put the picture in standard mode and then work on it The default settings are good for fast setup fo showrooms, but you need to change everything to standard ...

Very true. Stores often turn the contrast up v high - I've always seen a major improvement, and possibly truer comparison, after asking for the remote and setting everything to normal, not "vivid" or high contrast etc.

[tsk1979]

Stores also use another trick. They light up really bright. This hides the "black is not black" issue. Newer models do not have this issue to that extent, but I guess in 42" space this is still an issue.
One thing I noticed though, in all multibrand showrooms sony had a separate corner and was showing a different demo media.
LG/Samsung/Panasonic etc,. were all on common media.
The sony looked cleaner at all the places, and none of them were willing to show me a normal DVD, except for the sony world showrooms.
Eventually Price was the thing which caused the decision!

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Woweee! 1920x1080 native resolution in a 32" TV.
All the models in most showrooms (Samsung, sony LG etc.,) had highest resolution 1366x768.
this one must cost a bomb though!

Good prices I could find for the two HD models (LC32D62U and LC32GP1U) are US$719 and US$1089 respectively. The second model seems to be a Gamers special.

[ST7677]

Did anyone check out the Sharp TVs available in India? Any idea on the latest Price range of the Aquos models...

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I have decided on Samsung 40" R81 and will be getting it next week. Are you sure the price is 75K? The last quote that i got a month ago was 84K. And, as we all know it comes with Tata sky free. Please let me know what is the current best offer price as i don't want to lose good money in a hurry to buy it.

Ofcourse the "free" item's price will get added to the main price as we all know I have got this quote without the freebie. I find that price online is also about 80k (maybe without the freebie). You should be able to get a better price anyway. See the link below

Compare India - Televisions - Samsung-Bordeaux Art LA40R81B

[Sahil]

Is it a good time to buy now or wait till diwali day for prices to decrease further?

[ST7677]

IMO, I doubt if there will be any substantial decrease in prices (to end customers).
What is likely to happen is that part of discounts being offered will get merged with the MRP, so the MRP will fall.

While this will work for most of the brands like Samsung / LG, etc who are currently offering big (10-15%) discounts, it will be interesting to watch reaction of companies like Sony (who are hardly giving 3-5% discount at present).

Anyway Diwali is not far away, it's worth to wait and watch

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by ST7677

IMO, I doubt if there will be any substantial decrease in prices (to end customers).
What is likely to happen is that part of discounts being offered will get merged with the MRP, so the MRP will fall.

While this will work for most of the brands like Samsung / LG, etc who are currently offering big (10-15%) discounts, it will be interesting to watch reaction of companies like Sony (who are hardly giving 3-5% discount at present).

Anyway Diwali is not far away, it's worth to wait and watch

This time, most of the cons durable manufacturers have decided not to offer big discounts as usually given during festive season. You might have seen ads in paper from LG with big heading "No discount" and then "on quality.." in smaller print. So its like they telling us, "take it, or leave it". Even though this is the case, dealers may give some limited discounts and freebies due to intense competition between them.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by appuchan

This time, most of the cons durable manufacturers have decided not to offer big discounts as usually given during festive season. You might have seen ads in paper from LG with big heading "No discount" and then "on quality.." in smaller print. So its like they telling us, "take it, or leave it". Even though this is the case, dealers may give some limited discounts and freebies due to intense competition between them.

You may be right. I spent late last evening checking out the LCDs and here is what i found

Samsung

S7: 77K best offer ( 7000:1 Contrast ratio)
R8 : 82K best offer ( 8000:1 contrast ratio)

Above pricing is for 40" model and tata sky hardware free and installation of 1K chargeable. And, there is an offer of grab as many coins and they give you 10 times of how many coins u can grab in both hands. Coins start with denomination of 10p, 50p, 1R,2R,5R

LG

LC7 Series ( 40") : 77K ( 10000:1 contrast ratio)
Black Pearl ( 40") : 88K , a very new model

I compared the above models and i am totally in love with the R8, the colors are so rich it makes your eyes pop out. I am almost sold on this model and should be getting it on Nov 7th.

Any ideas of there are any better offers available or should i finalize the above?

[tsk1979]

Buddy you are willing to spend 80K, why not then shoot up the budget by 5K or so and go for the 100Hz model. Panasonic india is going to launch 100Hz models shortly.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Buddy you are willing to spend 80K, why not then shoot up the budget by 5K or so and go for the 100Hz model. Panasonic india is going to launch 100Hz models shortly.

I didnt quite understand what is 100Hz model? I dont see any of these manafacturers talk about this feature? A link would be quite helpful and also for the new panasonic model? When is it releasing?

[tsk1979]

100Hz HDTV sets

If you are watching 60Hz you will not notice anything, but keep them side by side(60Hz and 120Hz) and watch an High definition action DVD, you will notice the difference.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

100Hz HDTV sets

If you are watching 60Hz you will not notice anything, but keep them side by side(60Hz and 120Hz) and watch an High definition action DVD, you will notice the difference.

Nice link TSK, so the current breed of LCD's are 60hz? I dont see any of these folks mentioning that either on their websites or brochures. Any idea when these 100hz models will be released?

[tsk1979]

Yes the current breed is 60Hz.
They will mention this in fine print. what gets mentioned is "Contrast ratio" and other useless features like
"International space station compatible"
"DFGXX Comatible"
"Italian food ready"
"Contrast ratio"
Etc.,

Panasonic has the model on their website and it says "Coming shortly" Even brochures say so.
Samsung etc., have launched those models in international markets, and I think a week back sony launched something like that in India also, check out a sony world outlet.

Sharp Aquos line is supposedly the top dog here, but mighty expensive(90-95K for 40")

[mobike008]

Ha ha! I agree with you. Even, I discount all such useless features and feel that only the following are most useful when deciding on which LCD to purchase

Contrast ratio ( Higher the better)
Color reproduction ( 12.8 billion colors etc)
Refresh time ( 8ms or even better maybe 6ms or 5ms)
HDMI ports available
PIP availability and how many frames on the screen
hz ( now that you have enlightened me)

All the above plus the freebies offer make the purchase viable. And, most importantly whether you like what you see can never be discounted.

But, i need to get one on Diwali and like for all my purchases i go overboard by at least 25% of my budget each time. I don't know if i want to extend that budget of mine